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02-06-2006, 06:59 PM
Kene Obi bent his 7-foot-2-inch body into an awkward sitting position on two concrete steps in Alexandria and glared out at the landscape he'd long imagined. For four years, this had been his dream: an American school and basketball gymnasium behind him, beautiful homes in front of him and a Hummer on the way to pick him up.
The vision had propelled Obi, 17, through four years of uncertainty. He had left his family's one-bedroom apartment in Enugu, Nigeria, in 2001 with eyes set on the United States -- only to be detoured through Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, then Senegal, France and Belgium. Coaches at each stop heralded Obi as emblematic of basketball's rapid growth in Nigeria, a country with at least 46 players on NCAA men's basketball teams this season.
But in his long journey to the United States, Obi also became proof of another trend, this one far less promising. Coaches, scouts and middlemen increasingly pursue young Nigerian players as commodities.
Five months after arriving in the United States on a two-year visitor visa, Obi's basketball future remains uncertain. He moved into the house of an Alexandria entrepreneur who owns several minor league basketball teams and showcased his potential for some of the area's top high school coaches -- many of whom anointed Obi as a future top pick in the National Basketball Association draft. He enrolled at Fairfax County's Edison High School last week, a move that required him to file for a new U.S. guardian and to join the Junior ROTC to satisfy high school district residency rules. Even now, Virginia high school athletic authorities have yet to rule on whether he is eligible to play varsity this season.
The basketball career he came to America for has yet to begin.
"I thought everything would be better here, but it's boring," said Obi, who grew up speaking both English and Igbo, the language spoken by one of Nigeria's principal tribes. "I don't think the U.S. is so different from Nigeria."
The two dozen or so Nigerians who, like Obi, are recruited to the United States each year with the promise of playing high school and college basketball often find themselves pawns in an unregulated international market.
A businessman in Philadelphia brings players to the United States and becomes their legal guardian, expecting those players to repay him with 20 to 25 percent of their earnings if they make it to the NBA. He has already brokered eight Nigerians' trips to the United States and has plans for at least a dozen more.
Scouting services charge subscription fees ranging from $250 to $3,000 to provide high school, college and NBA teams with height, weight and contact information for Nigerian players.
U.S. college coaches travel halfway around the world hoping to procure the next Hakeem Olajuwon, the only Nigerian to star in the NBA. Three Nigerian coaches, interviewed during a showcase camp in Lagos last October, said they had been paid by U.S. college basketball programs for identifying, and delivering, talented players -- a violation of NCAA regulations. The going rate is about $5,000 per player, those coaches said.
"Maybe half the colleges are willing to pay," said Nigerian coach Ayo Bakare, who, along with the other coaches, refused to name specific schools for fear the payments would stop. "There's so much competition now that they have to pay. If you're a local coach and you can tell a player where to go to school, are you going to tell him about the place that gives you nothing or the place that feeds your family? There's no choice."
...
Mark Adams, an AAU coach in Indiana, pursued Obi with hopes, he said, of "you know, him playing for my team and maybe some kind of money back down the line." Adams arranged for a scholarship at Lynchburg (Va.) Christian Academy and promised to set up private workouts for Obi with Indiana high school star Greg Oden. "I guess Obi just felt more comfortable with Ugo," Adams said.
"I've never seen so many people going after one kid," said Olumide Oyedeji, a Nigerian who played recently in the NBA and has paid for about five players to move to the United States because he wanted to help others like him. "I heard about Obi, and I wanted to help him. Then I found out about all the people involved, and it was like, 'Wait. This isn't normal. I'm staying out.' "
Read Full Article from Eli Saslow, Washington Post ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801231.html)
The vision had propelled Obi, 17, through four years of uncertainty. He had left his family's one-bedroom apartment in Enugu, Nigeria, in 2001 with eyes set on the United States -- only to be detoured through Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, then Senegal, France and Belgium. Coaches at each stop heralded Obi as emblematic of basketball's rapid growth in Nigeria, a country with at least 46 players on NCAA men's basketball teams this season.
But in his long journey to the United States, Obi also became proof of another trend, this one far less promising. Coaches, scouts and middlemen increasingly pursue young Nigerian players as commodities.
Five months after arriving in the United States on a two-year visitor visa, Obi's basketball future remains uncertain. He moved into the house of an Alexandria entrepreneur who owns several minor league basketball teams and showcased his potential for some of the area's top high school coaches -- many of whom anointed Obi as a future top pick in the National Basketball Association draft. He enrolled at Fairfax County's Edison High School last week, a move that required him to file for a new U.S. guardian and to join the Junior ROTC to satisfy high school district residency rules. Even now, Virginia high school athletic authorities have yet to rule on whether he is eligible to play varsity this season.
The basketball career he came to America for has yet to begin.
"I thought everything would be better here, but it's boring," said Obi, who grew up speaking both English and Igbo, the language spoken by one of Nigeria's principal tribes. "I don't think the U.S. is so different from Nigeria."
The two dozen or so Nigerians who, like Obi, are recruited to the United States each year with the promise of playing high school and college basketball often find themselves pawns in an unregulated international market.
A businessman in Philadelphia brings players to the United States and becomes their legal guardian, expecting those players to repay him with 20 to 25 percent of their earnings if they make it to the NBA. He has already brokered eight Nigerians' trips to the United States and has plans for at least a dozen more.
Scouting services charge subscription fees ranging from $250 to $3,000 to provide high school, college and NBA teams with height, weight and contact information for Nigerian players.
U.S. college coaches travel halfway around the world hoping to procure the next Hakeem Olajuwon, the only Nigerian to star in the NBA. Three Nigerian coaches, interviewed during a showcase camp in Lagos last October, said they had been paid by U.S. college basketball programs for identifying, and delivering, talented players -- a violation of NCAA regulations. The going rate is about $5,000 per player, those coaches said.
"Maybe half the colleges are willing to pay," said Nigerian coach Ayo Bakare, who, along with the other coaches, refused to name specific schools for fear the payments would stop. "There's so much competition now that they have to pay. If you're a local coach and you can tell a player where to go to school, are you going to tell him about the place that gives you nothing or the place that feeds your family? There's no choice."
...
Mark Adams, an AAU coach in Indiana, pursued Obi with hopes, he said, of "you know, him playing for my team and maybe some kind of money back down the line." Adams arranged for a scholarship at Lynchburg (Va.) Christian Academy and promised to set up private workouts for Obi with Indiana high school star Greg Oden. "I guess Obi just felt more comfortable with Ugo," Adams said.
"I've never seen so many people going after one kid," said Olumide Oyedeji, a Nigerian who played recently in the NBA and has paid for about five players to move to the United States because he wanted to help others like him. "I heard about Obi, and I wanted to help him. Then I found out about all the people involved, and it was like, 'Wait. This isn't normal. I'm staying out.' "
Read Full Article from Eli Saslow, Washington Post ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801231.html)